Collecting Book Blurbs is the Final Piece of the Puzzle

The final step in completing a book project is collecting comments from authors, media outlets and other credible sources for use in a variety of different formats, including the book’s cover. It can be an intimidating experience the first time through, but not as difficult as you might think.

I was fortunate to collect six blurbs from outstanding authors in the U.S. and the U.K. for my upcoming true-crime book, Torture at the Back Forty. Many of these authors have been in the same boat as me at one point in their careers – virtually unknown and in need of a credibility boost – and were happy to help. It came as a pleasant surprise.

How did I succeed in recruiting these accomplished authors to help out a newbie like me? Well, it was very complicated: I asked them. Some authors insulate themselves from the general public in terms of e-mail access, while others make it as simple as a “Contact Me” button on their website. Connections through Twitter also proved useful in this quest.

I’m told the difference between having these comments at your disposal and not can be significant, since book buyers at major outlets pay more attention to books whose authors have made the effort to obtain them. There are two levels of selling when it comes to books: getting them on retail store shelves to begin with, and getting the buying public to pay money for your work. These comments help on both ends of that equation.

We’re using two comments on the cover and several more inside, and of course I have them available to post on sites like my blog. Our distributor, Midpoint Trade Books, also passed them on to Amazon, which has included them on the book’s page under “Editorial Reviews.” Very cool.

The files are now at the printer and all systems are ‘go’ for our August 7, 2009, release date. Now the marketing push takes center stage as we prepare for launch. As we wait for the tangible results of this 18-month effort, enjoy my treasured comments from authors around the world:

“Mike Dauplaise has a microscopic ability to see and know the truth as it exists, not as it seems. He presents here a murder story that needs to be told, must be told, for it represents the worst of human nature. The only thing colder than the killers’ hearts is the blistery, frigid air surrounding Green Bay, Wisconsin, that terrible winter. Here there is no fat; the writing is lean and moves to the point swiftly.”
Philip Carlo
Author of The Night Stalker, The Ice Man and The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath

“With an unsparing eye, Dauplaise tells a penetrating story set in a blustery outpost of America about a murderer named Gargoyle, motorcycle gangs, an undercover operation conducted with a wife in tow, a hit man who runs out with a deposit, and a woman who deserved far better than her depraved end.”
Marek Fuchs
Author of A Cold-Blooded Business

“A despicable cast of characters, a misogynistic culture, a horrendous crime – Dauplaise lays it all bare in shocking detail as law enforcement struggles for four-and-a-half years to find justice for a brutally victimized woman. Torture at the Back Forty is a stunning story in an otherwise bucolic blue-collar town.”
Diane Fanning
Author of Edgar Award finalist Written in Blood

“While well written and a true page turner, this book is not for the faint of heart. I would prefer to fight a pack of hungry wolves before facing the men Margaret fought with on the night of her death.”
Chuck Whitlock
Author of Police Heroes and Scam School

“Keep your eyes on author Mike Dauplaise. He’s one to watch. He’s taken an obscure crime story and crafted a smart and riveting narrative that dares you to put it down.”
Gregg Olsen
NY Times Bestselling Author of Abandoned Prayers

“Who murdered Margaret Anderson? And why? Dauplaise vividly recounts the details of this horrific crime. He depicts a twilight world where women are second-class citizens and life is cheap. Read it and weep.”
Carol Anne Davis
U.K.-based Author of Sadistic Killers and Children Who Kill
Posted by Mike on July 5, 2009 at 10:34 PM under